In
the original Japanese first episode, Sakura accidently opens
a magic book in her father's library, called The CLOW (said
like 'glow'), and the magic cards contained within escape
and fly out into the twilight. The guardian of the book, a
small flying cat-like creature calling himself Keruberosu,
scolds Sakura in an Osaka accent, for letting the cards escape.

Keruberosu,
whom Sakura quickly nicknames Kero-chan (Keh-ro-chahn), decides
that Sakura's duty is to retrieve these magic cards, gives
her a magic wand, and calls her the one and only card captor,
Card Captor Sakura. Kero-chan tells her that the cards were
created by the magic of the powerful sorceror Clow Reed, many
years earlier in China. The cards often take human-like form,
representations of the mystical elements such as lightening,
water, fire, etc.

Although
Sakura is at first reluctant to take the job, she slowly changes
her mind as she sees the destruction the cards can cause.
She lets her friend Tomoyo-chan in on the secret, and subsequently
on each battle with a card, the enthusiastic Tomoyo-chan both
sews elaborate outfits for Sakura, and video tapes the event
for posterity! Episode 8, where the North American series
began, introduces Li Shaoran, a boy in Sakura's class. Because
Li-kun is a descendant of Clow Reed, he is also trying to
collect the cards, so he appears to be Sakura's rival.

And
with Li-kun having a crush on Yukito-san as well, this adds
another layer to the story. Later, Li-kun and Sakura-chan work
side by side, and Li Meiling, Li-kun's cousin, also joins the
group.The original story is embellished
with the all encompassing cuteness of the girls, the great music
and design, and the ever present romantic interest of the aloof
Yukito-san.

Some
fine anime voice actors in the cast, including Tange Sakura
as Sakura, Iwao Junko as Tomoyo (Perfect Blue: Mima, Oh! My
Goddess: Skuld), Hisakawa Aya as Kero-chan (Sailormoon: Mercury),
and even the great Ogata Megumi as Yukito (Sailormoon: Uranus,
Evangelion: Shinji, Rayearth: Princess Emeraude and Eagle).....
we feel make Card Captor Sakura one of the best anime in the
past few years.

If
you are reading this essay and only know the North American
version of CCS, than you may be shaking your head in confusion
right now. This is due to the copious editing and changes
made by Nelvana and WB, both to censor the content of the
story, and to make it more marketable to North American audiences.

In
the North American program, Sakura is pronounced sa-CURR-ah,
and they have changed her last name to "Avalon". Tomoyo is
called "Madison", Li is "Lee Shoran", Kero-chan is "Keero",
Touya is "Tory", and Yukito is "Julian". Both Sakura's AND
Li-kun's crushes on Yukito have been edited out, and the dialogue
has been changed to make Li and Sakura bitter rivals. The
focus of the N. American show is the competitiveness of catching
the cards.. the goal not being saving the city, but beating
the other captor. Kero-chan, originally voiced by a woman
and with a gender neutral voice, has a tough surfer dude voice
as Keero.

And
one of the best elements of the original Japanese series,
the adorable "Kero-chan CHECK!" ending segment of each episode,
in which Kero-chan reviews the fashions and set design of
that episode, is absent in the N. American version in favor
of an ill-conceived "biography" on the week's Clow Card. These
"biographies" are made up of scenes that had been edited from
that episode and spliced together with some computer graphic
effects.

All
that makes Card Captor Sakura a shoujo anime is gone in "Cardcaptors",
the American version being more crass, flashy, and competitive...
trying to appeal to American boys rather than Japanese girls.
These changes both arouse anger in otaku (serious fans) like
us, but also raise questions. Why? Why did these changes have
to be made?

Why
was the original lavish music removed? Why couldn't the cute
voices of Sakura, Kero-chan, and Tomoyo have been left intact?
Why is a ten year old girl's crush on a 16 year old boy appropriate
for audiences in Japan by not in America? Why is a ten year
old BOY'S crush on a 16 year old boy appropriate for audiences
in Japan by not in America?

Why,
once again, has an anime been taken out of context, and American
audiences led to believe that this was an American product?
Why did CLAMP allow such changes to be made, and will American
viewers ever learn the truth? As fans of the show, we demand
correct translations, airing of lost footage, and above all,
subtitled Japanese language video and DVD releases.

We
hope you have found this site informative, and we will do
our best to provide a broad range of information and products
so that visitors like yourself can learn about both anime
and Japanese culture. But here in the BLACK MOON mansion..
only subbed copies
of Card Captor Sakura will grace our TV screens, and everyone
here knows the words to its opening theme... "Hora
catch you catch you catch me catch me matte...", or
"Look! Catch You Catch You Catch Me Catch Me Hold on!"